(Boise, ID) Idaho House Republicans on Monday advanced a bill that would make death by firing squad the main death penalty method in Idaho.
Presenting House Bill 37 to the Idaho House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee on Monday, bill sponsor Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa called the firing squad “more humane because it’s quick and certain.”
“At first when you hear firing squad, if you’re not familiar with the history, you think ‘well that sounds barbaric’ is what I’ve heard from some,” he told the committee. “It is certain. It is quick. And it brings justice for the victims and their families in a more expeditious manner than other types.”
“There will be fewer appellate issues in the courts with a firing squad than with intravenous injection injections; that’s my opinion. And fewer failed attempts at carrying out the death penalty when it gets to that point,” Skaug continued.
Nine people are on death row in Idaho, according to the Idaho Department of Correction.
Skaug also told lawmakers that Idaho’s firing squad execution method would be “mechanized,” saying how to carry out the method is up to the Idaho Department of Correction director.
“So it will not be a line of volunteers with rifles … . And it’ll be very different than how Utah did theirs in the past,” Skaug said. “The primary goal of our director is to make sure that it is dignified and humane for all involved, including the convicted.”
All Republicans on the Idaho House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee voted to advance the bill to the Idaho House. Two Democrats on the committee — Rep. Chris Mathias and Rep. John Gannon, both Democrats from Boise — voted against the bill. Idaho House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, was not present for the committee vote.
Skaug’s bill is co-sponsored by 16 Idaho Republican House lawmakers.
Skaug told the Idaho Capital Sun after the committee meeting the Idaho Department of Correction director said in a meeting with Skaug that Idaho’s firing squad death penalty implementation would be “automated.”
“The director has indicated that he would have an automated system. I do not recall the specifics of if it’s more than one button or multiple buttons that would be pushed to automatically fire the rifles,” Skaug told the Sun in an interview.
The Idaho Department of Correction couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.
Idaho AG attorney says bill would lead to less litigation
Two people testified in support of the bill, largely calling the firing squad a more effective death penalty option. Four people testified against the bill, many of whom cast firing squads as a gruesome method. Some opponents also said costs to implement the death penalty by firing squad were uncertain.
LaMont Anderson, a deputy attorney general in the Idaho Attorney General’s Office capital litigation unit, told the committee the U.S. Supreme Court determined the firing squad is constitutional. And some federal judges have even “opined that the firing squad is actually faster and more humane,” he said.
“I would suggest that the biggest advantage is actually, as chairman Skaug indicated, is less litigation,” Anderson told lawmakers.
Anderson referenced years of litigation from two Idaho death penalty cases that he said have focused solely on the execution method.
After Skaug said Idaho’s firing squad would be mechanized, he said that would deal with concerns about impacts on staff.
“The mechanical application … takes care of a lot of the concern that some people are talking about … mental health issues,” Skaug told the committee. “But generally, people that volunteer for this will know what they’re getting into.”
Only five states allow firing squad for death penalty
Lethal injection is the primary execution method in Idaho law.
In 2023, Idaho passed a law — approved by the Idaho Legislature and signed by Gov. Brad Little — to allow firing squads as an execution method. But that law only allowed firing squads as an alternative executive method when lethal injection is unavailable.
Skaug’s bill this year would make lethal injection the alternative execution method.
Only five states — Idaho, Utah, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Mississippi — allow firing squads for execution, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
In the United States, 144 executions have been carried out by firing squads, according to a 2016 law review article.
Since the death penalty became reinstated in the 1970s, Utah is the only state to have executed people by firing squad, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Idaho firing squad facility will cost more than lawmakers allocated. But extra costs will come from agency’s budget, Skaug says.
The bill’s fiscal note says it would have no fiscal impact.
The Idaho Legislature already appropriated $750,000 to remodel or build a firing squad facility at the Idaho Department of Correction, the bill’s fiscal note says, saying that it does not expect additional funds would be requested.
Skaug acknowledged that more funds will be needed to develop the firing squad facility. But he told the committee that would come from funds already within the Department of Correction budget — and would not involve another legislative budget request.
This story first appeared on Idaho Capital Sun.